Howard Moody has been described as a musical polymath. He works with arts organisations around the world as a composer, conductor and keyboard player, delivering transformational musical experiences. Howard was born in Salisbury in 1964 and is currently based in East Sussex, UK.
As a composer, he has written six operas. For La Monnaie: The Brussels Requiem (2011), Sindbad - A Journey Through Living Flames (2014) that has received productions in Brussels, Paris and Strasbourg. In collaboration with Moneim Adwan and Dick van der Harst, Orfeo and Majnun (2018) is currently touring seven different countries, involving Western and Arabic casts and orchestras. His opera PUSH (2016) was commissioned by Battle Festival in partnership with Glyndebourne and has had four different productions in Bexhill, Chichester / London, Salisbury and Brussels. His opera Agreed was premiered at Glyndebourne in March 2019 and received a 2019 YAM award and nominated for a 2019 Ivor Award. He has recently completed a new opera Les Rêveurs de la Lune for Opéra du Rhin, Strasbourg for performances in May 2022. The People’s Art Theatre of Wuhan, China commissioned a musical The Nine Coloured Deer, premiered in December 2019. Other commissions include ten symphonic works for London Symphony Orchestra and various instrumental, vocal and stage pieces for English National Opera, Days Bay Opera New Zealand, Scottish Chamber Orchestra, Bangladesh Festival, 2012 Cultural Olympiad, Salisbury International Arts Festival, Southern Cathedrals Festival, the Anvil and La Folia. His choral work In The Hand Of God is published by Edition Peters.
As a conductor, he has worked with London Symphony Orchestra, BBC Symphony Orchestra, Hallé, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, Ulster Orchestra, Bournemouth Orchestras, London Mozart Players, Scottish Chamber Orchestra, Orchestra delle Toscana, La Monnaie, Opera Factory, Icelandic Opera, Days Bay Opera New Zealand, Glyndebourne Youth Opera, Netherlands Radio Chorus, Salisbury Festival Chorus, Romanian State Chorus, Schola Cantorum of Oxford and numerous European ensembles and choral groups. He is artistic director of La Folia – a production company that commissions large scale devised projects, including a four-year devised Ring Cycle, Evening Songs and Continuing Songs with special schools, autistic units and the hearing impaired. He is also music director of the London Symphony Orchestra On Track Next Generation scheme.
As a keyboard player, he crosses the worlds of both classical and improvised music on piano, harpsichord and organ, recording for ECM, Chandos, Guild, SDG and the BBC. He was an organ scholar at New College Oxford, studied at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, and was prizewinner in both diplomas of the Royal College of Organists. He plays regularly with Orchestra of St John’s and is also a principal keyboard player with English Baroque Soloists. Concerts and projects include collaborations with artists as diverse as David Watkin, Ken Aiso, Jan Schmolck, Jack de Johnette, Marianne Faithfull, Matthew Barley, Mark Padmore, Marc Almond, Richard Chew, Terza Rima, David Freeman, Shuang Zou, Ian McMillan, Sir John Eliot Gardiner, John Lubbock and Paco Peña. He has worked extensively as an improviser with the legendary saxophonist John Surman, including their duo album Rain on the Window (ECM), performing together in many of the major international jazz festivals.
Image by Simon Hoyle